Saturday, 19 April 2014

Happy Easter Everyone!

I have always loved doing illustrations and I'd often send them to greeting card publishers in the hope of selling my designs. These two were among those that I sent off - to no avail.

Easter for us happens in autumn and has very special memories for me from childhood. The first hint of a chill in the air always gets those magical Easter memories flooding back. I also had beautiful children's picture books that depicted Easter in the northern hemisphere where the spring flowers seem to go hand in hand with the Easter theme. Hence the inspiration for the above illustration.

In the last few decades in Australia the Easter Bilby has come on to the scene to also deliver eggs. The Bilby is an endangered marsupial that lives in the more arid areas of the country.

Best Easter Cards I have ever seen!!! What do publishers know anyway!Happy Easter Bilby! Today at our Easter Dinner I am going to tell everyone in my family about the Easter Bilby! Thank you Wendy! Happy Autumn Easter to you Mate! I love these two illustrations! I so much love learning these great little facts about my buddy's wonderful southern hemisphere home! You are such a very skilled illustrator Wendy! I marvel at your work. I once toyed with the idea of illustrating children's books! (Hey Cobber! My wife just interrupted to tell me "The Easter Bilby" was on television! The Royal Family was in Australia and they talked a bit about the bilby!! How very cool is that! What a great coincidence! So much fun to see one on television while writing to you!!) Great art work Wendy! Enjoy every second on the planet my friend!G'Day Mate! Bilbys rock!Michael Bilby!

Wow Michael! That's a freaky coincidence! Isn't that often the way? - You've never heard of something before and then suddenly you read it or see it somewhere else in quick succession. I rarely watch the news these days but my sister was telling me that the royal baby was given an Easter Bilby toy today. It's good to know that the bilby is getting world wide attention!You are very kind to say such nice things about my illustrations. I remember you mentioning some time back about thinking about writing and illustrating children's books. Do you hope to continue with the idea?I hope you enjoy your Easter dinner with all your family. Say G'day from me!Happy Easter!Your trying-to-resist-the-Easter-chocolate art buddy,Wendy

These are SUCH a pleasure to see. You are very, very talented.Your plein air tree is beautiful and I enjoyed seeing the process steps. Hope your injury has healed and you are back on track. Michael gave you good advice.

Wendy I can't imagine someone not wanting these lovely illustrations. They are adorable. The Bilby is so cute. I hope you did have a lovely Easter. Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me as well. Take care and have a great week. I will be emailing you soon.

The Easter Bilby is one I had never heard of. Funny how each country develops their own traditions. I now know what baby George was given and it makes sense now. Not sure if the rest of the UK know what a bilby is either. I might need to spread the word about your Easter Bilby. Both fab illustrations and beautiful memories for you of times gone by. Who cares what publishers think. Anyway thanks for sharing your bilby with us. Hope you enjoyed Easter.

Thanks for the encouragement Laura! It's because the bilby is on the endangered list and someone had the great idea to promote it alongside the Easter bunny to help raise awareness - and money to help save it.I hope you had a great Easter too!

I'm chiming in a little late and with nothing that hasn't already been stated but I can't contain my delight over the "Easter Bilby" and had to comment. Michael is a great story teller, I wish I had heard his Easter dinner rendition of the Easter Bilby - nice work Wendy - keep submitting to publishers!

Thanks so much for your enthusiasm Lisa! Yes, I too was tickled to imagine Michael telling the story about the Easter Bilby to his family all the way over there on your side of the world in his signature animated style!

I love hearing about your Easter traditions Wendy... hopefully you are still enjoying any leftover chocolates. These would make beautiful illustrations for childrens books or cards, publishers don't know much!! I hope your writing is going well too.

About Me

Welcome to my blog!
This blog originally began as a vehicle to show the progress I was making with my weekly acrylic paintings. I am also a writer and find it a challenge trying to attend equally to the passion I feel for both art and words. In the process, this blog has since broadened to include all things creative and joyful in my life.

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I have written and illustrated a series of five children's books based on a program created by Professor Michael Bernard called "You Can Do It! Education." To order copies please click on the picture and scroll down to the second page under "Books" where you will find my five titles - Lucy's Dream, The Goal Keeper, A Girl Called Sally, The Turning Point and Before the School Bell.